Unitrunker Is UniTrunker still popular? Alternatives?

[Familyguy0398]

Hi there,
I just entered the wonderful world of SDR and as such I am very new and inexperienced. I have watched a few videos online on how to decode P25 and similar trunked signals but these videos were fairly old. I have two RTL-SDR dongles (one RTL-SDR v3 and one NESDR Smart). I am using SDR# for tuning and the waterfall, UniTrunker for signal analysis and DSD+ for decoding using a VB Virtual Cable to pass the audio through. I am able to see the P25 site in UniTrunker but have yet to actually hear a signal. I think that most systems around me are encrypted but that is not my concern right now, as I will be taking this setup to the city to experiment further in the future.

I've browsed the forums a bit and I don't see much about UniTrunker. Is it not widely used now? Is there a better alternative? I've seen a lot more mention of SDRTrunk, so I am thinking of trying this. What does the typical setup look like in 2021? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[maus92]

What system are you trying to monitor? Unitrunker V2 (the version under development) is a highly technical trunking system logging program that has a secondary ability to decode analog and P25 Phase 1 audio (as long as it is not encrypted.) Unitrunker V1 is a legacy program that is no longer actively developed / supported. If you only want to monitor P25 audio from a TRS, SDRTrunk is a good solution.

 

[AB9NN]

I became frustrated with Unitrunker and got DSD+ FastLane to work famously for me. It uses one dongle to decode P25 phase I voice and does so very well. I have used it for years and am very pleased with it. I run multiple dongles for multiple instances of DSD+ FastLane all scanning different scan lists. This allows me to scan three times faster and allows me to monitor multiple frequencies at the same time. 73 de AB9NN

 

[Familyguy0398]

What system are you trying to monitor? Unitrunker V2 (the version under development) is a highly technical trunking system logging program that has a secondary ability to decode analog and P25 Phase 1 audio (as long as it is not encrypted.) Unitrunker V1 is a legacy program that is no longer actively developed / supported. If you only want to monitor P25 audio from a TRS, SDRTrunk is a good solution.

I am trying to monitor the Maritime Public Safety Radio Network which is P25 Phase 1. I am based out of Bridgewater, NS and am able to connect to the Sellars Brook control channel. I do think that most everything is encrypted on the MPSRN. All calls are marked with a 'P' tag, so I don't actually know if the system I have going is working. I'm not even sure if I'm using UniTrunker 1 or 2 haha I am going to try SDRTrunk and DSD+ FastLane to see if I get any other results. Thanks for the suggestions!

I became frustrated with Unitrunker and got DSD+ FastLane to work famously for me. It uses one dongle to decode P25 phase I voice and does so very well. I have used it for years and am very pleased with it. I run multiple dongles for multiple instances of DSD+ FastLane all scanning different scan lists. This allows me to scan three times faster and allows me to monitor multiple frequencies at the same time. 73 de AB9NN

Are there any good guides that you can suggest which go over how to get started with DSD+ FastLane? Thanks again!

 

[Reconrider]

Honestly just buy DSD Plus fastlane. It's 25$ and you get lifetime updates.

unitrunker won't do P2 with audio

If you want free, you can look up videos of sdr# and dsd plus decoding, or you can just use SDRTrunk(free) and use that. SDRtrunk is a pain to setup kind but after you understand it, it'll be easy.

 

[boatbod]

DSD+FL if you run windows
SDRTrunk is multiplatform
OP25 if you run Linux or want to make a small headless RPi device.
All three options do P25 Ph1 and Ph2

 

[maus92]

In Unitrunker land, a "P" before a number in the Service type column means Protected, aka encrypted. The number - usually 4 - is a priority ranking. Most law enforcement tgs in the system you are trying to monitor seem to be encrypted, so you are SOL trying to decode those. I'm assuming that you have a Windows machine since you are trying Unitrunker. There is a Google Group for Unitrunker - find it and ask permission to join. Once that is granted, you can download Unitrunker 2 which does decode P25P1 natively, although it has difficulty with simulcast. If you are not interested in geeking out on control channel data, SDRTrunk is a fine program, and not terribly difficult to set up. It handles simulcast exceptionally well. I decided not to renew / pay for DSD FL because I find it dated, but some people swear by it - it works OK, but I find the audio decode quality of SDRTrunk (and OP25) to be superior.

 

[AJAT]

For P25 I prefer SDR trunk Over DSDfastlane. I love the unitrunker program, I use it for my local system that is still analog. I did not know about V2, I am going to look into that. If you don’t mind spending the 25 bucks I would recommend getting both and seeing what one you like better.I like the SDRtrunk interface better, but I think the DSDfastlane does decode voice a little better. If you don’t want to spend anymore money the SDRtrunk is what you want for digital.

 

[polkaroo]

I use both SDRtrunk and DSDPlus and my uses are

SDRtrunk: scanning/streaming (multi VFO tunes in multiple active talkgroups at once and supported by Rdio-Scanner.)
DSD+ Fastlane: discovery and logging (great for watching systems, but can only tune to one talkgroup at a time.)

 

[Muxlow]

Iv been using Unitrunker since it came out logging my local edacs system that now has gone p25 phase 1, also use it to monitor a type 2 analog/p25 system

Mainly use DSD for DMR/NXDN systems as its not as easy to go back and see what radios have been on what talkgroups.. little more work involved so thats why i like UT more for that stuff